The Australian skipper has produced brilliant consecutive centuries to steer her squad into the last four of the World Cup, motivating them to a merciless 10-wicket win over Bangladesh.
Healy remained unbeaten on 113, arriving just a few days after her similarly stellar 142 that saw off the Indian team at the identical Vizag stadium. This time, she shared an undefeated double-century opening partnership with her opening partner (84 not out) to dash to their goal of 199 in just under 25 deliveries.
“I felt I was a little bit poor behind the stumps, and perhaps a bit as captain as well today, but we’ll accept the win and move on,” Healy remarked.
Ironically, the utmost professionalism of the day's run-chase as the duo added 202 came after perhaps Australia’s weakest performance in the field under the captain's leadership, with the captain scolding herself in particular for spilling two of the half-dozen catches that went down.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my glovework, and I needed to compensate with the bat, and fortunately succeeded,” Healy continued.
From the time statistics was first recorded on fielding performance metrics in the year 2013, the six dropped catches represented the team's poorest fielding showing at a Women’s World Cup.
“Maybe it’s just that phase of the competition – we’ve been here a while, and it’s an issue we’ll review,” the captain said.
It helped the opposition to eke out 9-198 after they had chosen to bat first, their highest total in an One-Day International against Australia, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the first fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the world champions.
But the spinner's spellbinding continuous 10-over bowling performance, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was crucial to ensuring the team's chase wasn’t too challenging.
The Captain Delighted with Win that Seals Knockout Spot
The Australian skipper was thrilled to learn that the triumph, which places her undefeated team at the top of the group table on nine points after four wins and a wash-out, secures them a place in the semi-finals. “That's fantastic,” she said.
The 35-year-old skipper raced to her century off just 73 balls, the fastest hundred of the World Cup, and finished with 20 fours off the 77 balls she confronted as she accelerated from Litchfield later in the knock after they had gone practically boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
Litchfield Shines with First Tournament Fifty
The young batter Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and a six, getting to her first tournament half-century off 46 deliveries soon after her partner got there off 43 balls. They went on to record the third-best partnership by any Australian duo at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding effort, Healy spilled the easiest of chances off Darcie Brown and also failed to hold on to a difficult skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Frustratingly, she also did take a clear chance off Brown but failed to review when the official rejected their appeal.
The reinstated Brown sent down the quickest deliveries at the tournament so far but was nonetheless the team's costliest bowling option, conceding 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spinners Excel as Alana King Leads
Instead, the slow bowlers thrived, led by King, whose performance could have been more successful if Beth Mooney hadn’t missed one in the slip cordon.
Fellow spinners Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Gardner (2-48 off nine overs) both chipped in, while Annabel Sutherland strengthened her standing as the competition's leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, taking her tally to thirteen.
Rubya Haider’s 44 runs and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 runs off 80 deliveries took the team to their highest-ever total against the Aussies, but the total was made to look easy meat by a team who had chased down 330 runs against the Indian side four days before.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a global tournament,” remarked player-of-the-match King. “No doubt it won't end here. We anticipate returning to the next venue to face England and the Proteas.”
